Israel strikes Beirut, top Hezbollah commander among 9 killed

The Israeli military carried out an airstrike in southern Beirut on Friday, killing senior Hezbollah military figure Ibrahim Aqil, CNN reported.

The military said Aqil was part of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force.

The strike caused significant damage in the Jamous area of Beirut's southern suburbs, collapsing at least two residential buildings, as per CNN.

Rescue efforts are underway, with specialised search and rescue teams racing to find those trapped under the rubble. Lebanon's civil defense has urged people to evacuate the area.

Photos from a suburb of Beirut in the south, where Hezbollah is widely supported, according to The Washington Post, showed massive damage to cars and buildings as well as rubble in the streets.

According to Lebanon's ministry of health, nine people were killed and 58 people were injured in the strike.

According to CNN, the strike flattened a multistory building in a residential neighborhood.

Sources told CNN that senior Hezbollah military figure Ibrahim Aqil was the target of Israel's strike on southern Beirut that leveled a building, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens of others.

The Israeli military had earlier claimed to have carried out airstrikes against what it claimed to be southern Lebanon's Hezbollah facilities.

About 140 rockets were launched by Hezbollah into northern Israel on Friday, with the militant group claiming that the targets were Israeli military installations.

The exchange took place, following some of the most severe Israeli cross-border bombardments since the Gaza War intensified regional conflicts, reported The Washington Post.

It is pertinent to note that the situation has grown tense since Hasan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, on Thursday vowed retaliation against Israel for detonations of electronic devices that killed at least 37 people this week and left thousands injured.

Quite recently, the walkie-talkies and pager explosions in Lebanon resulted in devastating consequences.

In the latest attacks on Wednesday, at least 20 people lost their lives and over 450 were injured in Lebanon, authorities said, according to a report by Al Jazeera.

The latest attack came just a day after 12 people were killed and more than 2,800 others were wounded in a coordinated explosion of pagers in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Thursday announced that it had launched targeted strikes against Hezbollah terrorist capabilities and infrastructure in Lebanon, aiming to bring security to northern Israel to enable the return of residents to their homes and achieve war goals.

In a post on X, the IDF stated, 'The IDF is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon to degrade Hezbollah's terrorist capabilities and infrastructure. For decades, Hezbollah has weaponized civilian homes, dug tunnels beneath them and used civilians as human shields--having turned southern Lebanon into a war zone. The IDF is operating to bring security to northern Israel in order to enable the return of residents to their homes and achieve war goals.'

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has declared the start of a 'new phase' in the war and asserted that the focus is now on the northern arena.

Sharing a post on X, Gallant said, 'We are at the start of a new phase in the war -- we are allocating resources and forces to the northern arena and our mission is clear: ensuring the safe return of Israel's northern communities to their homes. To do so, the security situation must be changed.'